The present invention relates to magnetic hard disk drives. More specifically, the invention relates to a system for manufacturing a hard disk drive arm and the bonding of magnetic head to suspension on the drive arm.
Among the better known data storage devices are magnetic disk drives of the type in which a magnetic head slider assembly floats on an air bearing at the surface of a rotating magnetic disk. Such disk drives are often called ‘Winchester’-type drives. In these, one or more rigid magnetic disks are located within a sealed chamber together with one or more magnetic head slider assemblies. The magnetic disk drive may include one or more rigid magnetic disks, and the slider assemblies may be positioned at one or both sides of the magnetic disks.
FIG. 1 provides an illustration of a typical hard drive as used in the art. The slider assembly 108 may be mounted in a manner which permits gimbaled movement at the free outer end of the arm 102 such that an air bearing between the slider assembly 108 and the surface of the magnetic disk 104 can be established and maintained. The drive arm 102 is coupled to an appropriate mechanism, such as a voice-coil motor (VCM) 106, for moving the arm 102 across the surface of the disk 104 so that a magnetic head contained within the slider assembly 108 can address specific concentric data tracks on the disk 104 for writing information onto or reading information from the data tracks.
FIGS. 2a–b provide an illustration of a hard drive arm and magnetic head as used in the art. Typically, the magnetic head (slider) 202 is electrically connected to the head gimbal assembly (HGA) by bonding means, such as gold ball bonding (GBB), solder bump bonding (SBB), and ultrasonic welding. Typically, four connection points (balls) 204 are provided to electrically connect the magnetic head 202 to the suspension tongue/head gimbal assembly (HGA) 206. Two of the balls 204 are for the ‘read’ operation, and two of the balls 204 are for the ‘write’ operation. To prevent the bonding balls 204 from hardening with the magnetic head 202 in an undesirable orientation, a fixture 208 is used to strongly clamp the suspension tongue 206 and head 202 to be physically stable for ball 204 application by a soldering tool 210, etc. A base support 211 and a first clamping cover 220 stabilize the magnetic head 202. A second clamping cover 221 stabilizes the suspension tongue 206. A second base support (not shown) secures the load beam 212. This fixture 208 is utilized to prevent a change in orientation of the head 202 by the force of the soldering tool 210 during application. However, the clamping force of the fixture 208 is often enough to deform the magnetic head 202 and suspension tongue 212 structure causing improper orientation (alignment). Further, the forces involved have a tendency to damage the head 202 surface as well as the head suspension dimple 214.
It is therefore desirable to have a system to enable magnetic head electrical bonding while avoiding the aforementioned problems, in addition to providing other advantages.